Fairies and Wonders
by AstalovesuTeddyLupin
Summary: What would you do, if someone you thought you knew suddenly would turn out to be...? Well not normal. To be more exact - a wizard. This fanfiction is about a muggle-girl called Olive. She meets and maybe she even falls in love (who knows?) with James Sirius Potter. Weird things always happen around James and his family. They don't seem quite ordinary...
1. Are you Sirius?

"... I just wanted to tell you, before you meet the rest of my family at my birthday-party tomorrow."

"Okay" I laugh nervously. "Stop it now James."

"I promise you, I'm not joking!" He says solemnly and takes both my hands in his. I don't quite know if he's teasing me. He's such a prankster, so it's hard to know when he actually tells you the truth.

"Yeah right" I say and continue to laugh uneasily, while I pull my hands out of his. To tell you the truth, I'm a little bit scared James is going mad.

I start walking with long strides as if I could run from the fact, that either me or my... whatever he is, was nutty. Unfortunately for me his legs are longer than mine, so about 2 seconds later he is walking besides me again. A chilly breeze encircles us at the park and makes me pull my jacket closer around me. The weather is becoming colder and the days shorter. Autumn is on its way. That meant that James had to return to his boarding school - or was it a mental institution?

It could, be if he truly believed in what he was trying to tell me. How could such a gorgeous-looking boy be crazy though? I observe him out of the corner of my eyes. His brown, messy hair has a tinge of red and nearly invisible freckles are sprinkled over his nose. He's tall and skinny, but I know that if he takes that plain blue sweater he wears off, he'll look anything but skinny. The first time I met him was on the beach, and as that shy person he is, he was showing off his six-pack. Although I at first thought he was a big braggart, I couldn't keep my eyes of him. And I wasn't the only one sending long gazes in his direction.

Although he's wearing a shirt now, I'm still not the only one peeping on him - I can see two girls sitting on a bench, maybe a year younger than me, pointing at him and giggle being all sugar. And come on - who wouldn't throw a second glance at him? With those warm brown eyes, that always had a mischievous sparkle in them, those gorgeous cheekbones and his perfectly-shaped lips.

He notices, I looked at him and smiles that crooked, complacent smile he almost always wears on his face.

Apparently he's waiting for an elderly couple to pass us, before he grabs my arm and forces me to stop.

"I'm telling you the truth Olive! It's true!" he says dead serious.

I'm beginning to really worry now - he's not coming with those sarcastic side comments, not telling a joke and for once... He's acting mature. Maybe he's not joking..? Argh, I don't know!

He's not waiting for an answer but keeps trying to convince me:

"I don't get it! You've always complained about how this world's so boring. And the second it turns out to not be so boring, you freak out?"

"What did you expect James?" I cry out loudly, so the couple that just passed us turns around and stare at us.

James wave awkwardly their way, and drags me behind a bush.

"Did you just expect me to believe in fairies and witches and Hugworts and real gold and... and..."

"Hogwarts..." he corrects me, while I continue.

"... and your dad, not that I think you don't have a dad, but I mean that he's really famous. If he's really famous, I think I would have seen him before" I finish my monologue, and try to catch my breath again.

"He's not famous in your world" explains James impatient.

"Oh my world!" was my brilliant respons.

James patience seems to have been expended because he shushes me.

"Did you just... Did you just _shush_ me? Are you serious?" I can't help but laugh.

James's lips begins to return to their usual smile:

"Yes that's my middle name!"

Aaaand the normal James is back!

He is about to laugh out loud at his own joke, but he resists and stays serious:

"Do you remember the poster I had at my room?"

I nod and frown. He had insisted that he wouldn't talk about that weird moving poster, I once found under his bed. Why would he want to...

"See - that was magic. The chocolate frog - magic. The flying spoon? Are you really telling me, you believed that it was a miracle and it withstood gravity?" he asks, with only a teeny weensy tone of contemptuous in his voice.

No I hadn't believed that silly story. I had accepted it, because there was no logical explanation. And as for the miracle - it's a miracle that there apparently is magic in this world!

Abruptly i see. That would explain _so much._

"A tons of other weird things happen when I'm around you!" I agree and my voice is suddenly trembling.

I look into those brown eyes and I can't _not_ believe him.

"A muggle... Is that a real word then?" I whisper overwhelmed.

"Yes it is. You're a muggle."

Since the first time I spoke to him, he has been calling me 'muggle'. I've always just thought it was some sort of weird nickname. Maybe it's something insulting.

Apparently James Sirius Potter is a wizard and I'm a muggle - whatever that is.

 **This chapter became very short, but i just want to see if anyone would like to hear more.**

P.s I'm so sorry for that "dead serious" joke in the chapter, i actually didn't notice it at first!


	2. The first encounter

It was a warm day in June. The sun shone and fleecy clouds covered the light-blue sky. We were a bunch of girls going to the beach, even though it wasn't quite my scene - but my friends insisted on dragging me with them.

"But there's sand _everywhere_!" I complained, while the girls both laughed and sighed.

"Yeah, but there's hot boys without any shirts on Olive!" added my twinsister, who was among this group I could call my best friends. I just rolled my eyes, but couldn't quite hide the smile that turned up on my lips.

A voice behind us craved our attention: "And a magnificent example is walking right past you."

The boy who spoke was surrounded by his giggling friends. He wore nothing but blue flip-flops, white bathing shorts and of course a smug smirk on his face.

"Oh I think you misheard" I said, with a saccharine smile fixed on my face, while I turned my head a bit to the right. I didn't try to hide my obvious glare. He was actually quite pretty. His brown eyes were inviting with a mischievous sparkle in them, with a few locks of his messy brown hair -which actually had kind of a red gleam - falling into them. His nose was kind of sharp but that gave his face kind of an edge. I moved my glance down to his muscular arms, which held a one-strap bag, where his t-shirt were sticking up; farther down his chest and finally to the six-pack you dimly could see. Sceptical I met his awaiting look and smirked.

"She said _hot_ boys."

As my girlfriends laughed and applauded me for my response, his friends did as well, all while he stood there and smiled a big smile towards me. My accusation wasn't true at all - he was hot in the cute way, even I couldn't deny it. He was a braggart as well, I could sense that from the way he talked and acted. And to me it didn't matter how hot he was, if he was a prat.

"Touche!" he said, much to my surprise. I'd expected some kind of smart reply.

Then he crossed the two meter sand that was between us and lifted his hand up.

"Peace?" was the word that came out of his light red lips. I considered this proposal, before taking his hand and shaking it. I immediately regretted it, when he winked teasingly at me.

"And all was good in the world again!" he declared to the joint group of girls and boys with a witty finger in the air.

I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes and crossing my arms. It was getting quite hot and I could feel the irritation and curiosity I felt against this confident boy grow.

"Well I don't want to roast in this insisting sun, so we better keep going" I said, and harvested a lot of unpleasant looks from my girlfriends. Maybe they wanted to keep talking to these annoying smartasses but I'd had it. Boys weren't my main priority right now. I was sweating and annoyed by the fact that my girlfriends had put me in a bathingsuit and dragged me to a beach. I knew I would be haunted by sand for _weeks_ now. That didn't mean I had to force my friends to suffer as much as I did though, so therefore I corrected myself:

"I mean, eh, I'm going to find a kiosk to buy some water from."

The boy in front of me just raised an eyebrow and smiled at me again.

"Very well" he said." But let me introduce me and my friends before you run of."

I couldn't refuse, even though I actually wasn't in the mood for making new acquaintances - that would just be unbelievable rude. So I just nodded and fumbled with my long beach-dress that covered my blue bathingsuit.

"This is Zachary, Peter and Albus my little brother." He pointed them out one by one, but they were all pretty ordinary - black, brown and blond hair, normal faces and the same grin on their faces as the boy, that started this conversation. They were all cute but no one stood out. Expect the boy that he had pointed out as his little brother. He couldn't be that much younger than his big brother. His hair was long and black, and his eyes were hypnotising green. He stood behind the other guys, smiling and laughing but you could clearly see he was shy, as he was hiding behind the safeness of his brothers friends. Actually the little brother, who apparently was named Albus looked really cute. He was also the only one still wearing a shirt. The others had like James dragged it of before the encounter with us.

All of the assembled teenagers waited for the braggart in front of us, to introduce himself. As he did he fixated his eyes on mine.

"And my name is James. James Sirius Potter, to be fair."

I had no idea why, but I could feel a shiver down my spine, as he kept his eyes locked with mine. So his name was James. I let a smile invade my lips, as I nodded politely to him. Did he... flirt with me?

My sister interrupted that thought, and drew everyone's attention as she began introducing herself as well. "Hello James, Albus, Peter - was it Peter? -, Zachary. My name is Cecilia and I'm Olives twinsister!"

Our girlfriends imitated her action and started to introduce themselves too.

"Hi, I'm Melony!"

"I'm Michelle."

"And I'm Kylie."

The boys replied their introduction with greetings and smiles. At last I was the only one to not having mentioned my name. I just stood there, kind of stupidly, not realizing I was to introduce myself. James saved me from complete humiliation though.

"So I guess your name is Olive then?" he asked rhetorically. I just shrugged my shoulders and added a polite smile.

"Well now that I know all of your fabulous names, you got to excuse me - soon I'll die of thirst, if I don't find some water!" I said, waved awkwardly and was finally on my way. I just didn't have energy for all the flirting and false laughing newly befriended boys craved. But, I realised, I didn't really have energy for burning my feet in the hot sand either. I cursed as my flip-flop-wearing feet sank down in the burning sand, and decided to walk on the sidewalk. Damn this trip. Why couldn't we just have bathed quickly by the bridge and then have moved on? No, no we had to stay here ALL day.

As I reached the nearest kiosk, and desperately asked for water, I'd realized that I had forgotten my purse. Brilliant. I immediately felt embarrassed and really annoyed as I now had to turn back, and explain the situation to the others - who definitely still where with these strange boys.

"I'm sorry I forgot my money, I can't pay right now..."

"Well then it's absolutely fantastic that I can!" interrupted a voice. I turned around as fast as I could and recognised the face of this so called James Sirius Potter. He had this smug smirk on his face and weirdly enough my sunhat in his hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked, with my arms confirming my confusion.

"I'm being a gentleman and paying for the water, you crave so much" was his only answer, as he sent me a blinding smile and reached down in his bag for some money. As he opened it, I noticed some sort of stick in it. Weird.

While he paid I just stood behind him, looking real stupid.

"Here you go" he said teasingly and gave me a bottle of cold water.

"Thanks. I'll pay you back later" I mumbled, and took a sip of the bottle.

"No need. Your sister sent me up here with your purse and your sunhat, but I left your purse so you had to let me pay."

"Did my sister send _you?_ "

He smiled and laughed.

"Actually she was going herself, but I volunteered to bring you your stuff."

"And what" I sneered. Why was he so flirty? "You knew I would need my hat, to hide my face with from humiliation?"

That only made him laugh even more.

"Why do you hate me so much? You don't even know me" he questioned me, trying real hard to keep his amusement from his voice.

"I don't hate you. I just find your confidence annoying!" I declared, while dragging my hat from his hand and planting it on my head. I felt a lot better with the water and my hat to protect me from the annoyance and heat of the irritating sun. I didn't wait for a response from him, before setting of towards my friends and most likely his as well.

He yelled after me: "What confidence?"

I admit it made me smile.

"Do you really want to go join the others?"

I turned around slowly, facing James. No I didn't.

"They- both my and your friends - are playing beach-volleyball" he informed me. I moaned. That meant sand everywhere.

"You know, we could go another place, just the two of us." He moved closer, one step at a time.

And I couldn't help but laugh. He looked completely shocked. Between my giggles I managed to spit out:

"Excuse me, what confidence? How can you just assume I want to go with you?"

His smile rode off his lips and his eyes seemed strangely serious.

"I don't just assume. But it's worth a try right?"

I'd only known him for like 15 minutes and already, it was weird for me to see him serious. I shrugged my shoulders as an answer.

"I guess."

With a movement with his hand, he signalled for me to start walking again. He turned "normal" for him I guess, shortly after and started joking with me, complimenting my dress ("that's a fine dress, why don't you take it off?"), and I found that I was actually enjoying his company. Maybe I had judged too quickly.

When we reached the others, we joined them and departed on each team - the girls played against the boys. I was surprised to find that I had fun. The boys weren't that bad at all. Well, at beach-volleyball they were but not as persons. I laughed a lot and collected a fine amount of sand in my bathingsuit and hair. When the others got tired of playing this game, they decided to jump in the water.

Some of my negativity hadn't quite walked of yet, so I chose to stay on dry land and read the book I'd brought along. I was all caught up in this book, when I felt drops of water on my head. Reluctantly I closed my book and saw James standing in the sun, drying of his hair. He looked quite good as the water drops shone in his wet messy hair and made his body shine - inclusive that stomach of his, you couldn't complain about.

He saw me gaze upon him and sent me a big smile, for the thousand times that day. This time it actually made a tinkling feeling in my stomach. Nonsense. I shot the thought down. I didn't really have time for boys.

He took his towel and quickly ran it over his body, before lying next to me on the blanket, leaning on his elbows.

"You know what? I was wrong before. You're actually pretty hot" I blurted out for absolutely NO reason.

He looked surprised, but didn't comment it. He gazed upon my face, searched for a reason for my outbreak I was sure.

"You know" he said hesitantly. "You're not an ordinary girl."

I couldn't do anything but reply with a polite smile. _You're not an ordinary girl._ His eyes locked with mine once again, and it felt like the warmth of them was affecting me more than the sun did. As I was staring into those eyes, I could feel my heartbeat rising.

"Go on a date with me."

That broke the spell.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"You heard me" he said, winking at me. "Will you go on a date with me?"

"And why, why would I go on a date with an over-confident braggart I literally _just_ met?" I asked, rising an eyebrow. I had to admit, I was intrigued by this boy, but I was... I was afraid. What did he want with me? A boring, negative, geeky girl? No, it was better to act cold-hearted than to risk being hurt.

He rolled around on the blanket, so he could lie on his stomach and rest his chin in his hands. I couldn't help but laugh at this position he laid in. It was so girly. He smiled at my reaction, clearly satisfied.

"You should date me, because I'm no ordinary over-confident braggart."

I leaned forward towards him and whispered as if this was meant to be said in confidence:

"You know... Every boy is unordinary. That what makes them all so ordinary."

He snorted and shook his head as I smirked and leaned backwards again.

"Then I'm an ordinary boy - and that must make me an unordinary boy, right?"

I was in the middle of giving him an answer, when he interrupted me:

"Okay, can we stop all of this? I really want to get you to know better, and you can't deny that you also find me exciting. Just go on a date with me, and I'll stop annoy you anymore."

He was right. I did find him intriguing.

" _Fine!_ One date" I complained, with a loud sigh afterwards like I was really against going out with him. I wasn't really. Actually this James Sirius Potter didn't seem so bad at all.


	3. Let's gamble

**Unedited**

Surprisingly enough I wasn't that nervous, when I combed my hair and threw it into a messy bun. It was fine that way, I decided. He'd told me to not dress up that fancy - whatever that meant -, so I wore a pair of boyfriend-jeans with a fine top and a blazer over. I was in the middle of applying make-up - which in my case meant mascara, since I didn't use much more - when I heard a knock on the front door. A smile spread on my lips, as I slowly turned around and made my way towards the entrée. I would give him the pleasure of meeting my family - he would have to handle them all on his own. It was him that was so eager to take me out, right? Well then he had to play by my rules. I was not the "date" type. I preferred an evening of Netflix and Pizza. I certainly didn't like all that lovey-dovey, romantic stuff. If someone just mentioned clichés I felt the need to vomit.

I'd already told my parents and siblings about the guest we were receiving today, so they were more than ready to welcome him into our home, and grill James the minute he knocked on our door. When I was walking down the stairs, I caught a glimpse of my mom offering him tea, my dad sitting across the dining-table with lifted eyebrows, my brother and my twin sister that he already had met, in a light conversation.

I decided to let him sweat a bit more, so I just went to the bathroom and into Petreas room to grab some shoes, all while I took my sweet, sweet time.

"Olive" my mom called at last. "Were you planning on every coming to join your date? "

"No" I joked while I slipped into the dining room, where the others were seated. "I planned to let him stay here with you. All night."

James winked at me, while clearly approving of my appearance as he smiled that smug, confident smile:

"Oh I wouldn't mind. You have a lovely family Olive!"

It was rather weird seeing this boy I just met a few days ago, sitting in my house surrounded by my family. But my family's opinion was important to me, and if they disapproved of him, I'd never dare to go out with him. Plus I had kind of hoped that he would be scared off by meeting them, but when I told him to pick me up here, he kind of sensed my plan. And he actually didn't seem to mind being questioned by my family. He was being kind, polite and friendly. It annoyed me, though I didn't know why.

"Well" I sneered. "Let's go." I added a bit friendlier.

He shook my parents' hands and said his goodbyes to my family, before we were out of the door. It was late in the afternoon, a Friday in the month June and the school holiday had begun. It was a week since I first met this strange boy and I'd kind of forgotten how he looked. But he looked the same as he had the week before - messy hair, freckles, those red lips. Well except now he wore long jeans a shirt and a blazer, the same black colour as the blazer I wore - and he couldn't help but mentioning it with that sparkle in his eye:

"Hey, we're matching! Oh, how we're meant for each other! This is the start of a sweet, sweet" he lowered his voice to a whisper and said theatrical:" do I dare say it..? Well here goes: romance."

I couldn't help but laugh and my mood rose.

"So where are we going Mister Romantic?" I asked, with a smile upon my lips and my eyes fixed upon this strange person before me that dramaticly exclaimed:

"Oh no my dear Lady, I'm no romantic! I'm just poor old Mr Darcy, or at least the fair maiden seems to think! And we're heading to the park, you live besides."

I shook my head and started to walk towards this park he mentioned. Had he planned a walk for us? And what was going on with all this weird talk? I honestly distrusted him for knowing I wasn't quite comfortable going on this date with him, and trying to lighting the mood by mentioning a character from my favorite book. It worked though.

"Right, so you're rich, arrogant, ignorant and too proud for your own good?" I commented, raising one eyebrow as we walked on the sidewalk past all these normal villas in the glorious evening light from the down going sun.

He thought about it for a second, while really squinting his eyes and crumple the skin on his forehead:

"Yep. Well, I wouldn't say my family is _that_ rich, I mean we have an average-like income. My father could get paid more though, but he doesn't want to."

I chose to just roll my eyes at him. Well it was good he admitted it at least.

"So what does your dad work with?" I asked politely, to try and avoid more of this Mr Darcy-talk. I wasn't the romantic kind of gal - but i loved "Pride and Prejudices" and i wondered vaguely how he knew. But as soon as I asked the perfectly normal question he froze on the sidewalk.

He looked completely shocked. But soon after that expression changed to confusion. He looked as if he thought about an answer very intensively.

"Uh, ehm well, it's difficult to explain..." he mumbled a minute later, while staring at my face with a frown upon his face.

I wondered why that question had triggered him, to chance personality at an instant, but I didn't want to make him anymore uncomfortable.

"Oh that's okay, you don't have to explain!" I murmured, whereafter I pointed in the direction of the park. "The park's just around the corner, let's go!" I exclaimed a bit to enthusiasticall.

He smiled at me and lived a bit up. But he didn't follow me when I took a few steps forward. As I turned around so I faced him, I raised an eyebrow:

"What?"

He was staring at me, with that smug smile on those lips. His brown eyes were once again hypnotizing.

"Why are you just standing there?" I sneered, actually a bit uncomfortable that he just glazed at me like that with those annoying, beautiful eyes.

He shrugged his shoulders, still wearing that smile.

"I think it's going to cause a lot of problems, that I'm taking you out on a date little muggle."

I was terrible confused by that sentence that he just uttered. But while I was analysing what he just said, he caught up with me on the sidewalk and pulled in my arm, making me walk again.

"Why do you think us going on _one_ date is going to cause problems?" I asked suspicious that he somehow was fooling me. As I thought about his words once more, I added one more question:

"And what the hell is a muggle?"

Quickly he turned around and jumped a step in front of me, so he walked backwards.

"I think" he started, with a grin on his face. "One of the problems could crop up because you're so resistant towards me."

I just rolled my eyes as we walked past bushes and a couple of playing kids. It smelled of BBQ and grill in the neighbourhood.

"I'm not dismissive!" I argued, while my heartbeat rose unnaturally. He just shook his head patiently as I was a kid slow at learning.

"You are, and you know it yourself" he declared, still walking backwards so he could look me in my eyes. But I dragged my gaze from his face and looked up at the blue sky, which slowly was turning purple.  
"But is okay - i've always found it boring when i date a girl who actually wants to spend time with me" he joked with humour and a wink my way.

I smiled appreciative at him and couldn't help it when i rolled my eyes.

Okay, maybe I was dismissive. But I was just annoyed, that a braggart had forced me to go out with him! I couldn't help but feel a bit bad the instant i thought it. It was wrong to think so - he hadn't forced me - I had actually agreed myself to go on this date. I'd just forgotten the way he'd made my stomach tingle over these past day we'd been apart.

"Sorry" I mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

"It's okay" he claimed. "I know why you're acting that way."

We stopped at the sidewalk once again as he said the last words. I just laughed a bit and waited for him to keep talking, while I fixed my glance at him again. Actually I was a bit nervous of which conclusion he had drawn from my wildly embarrassing behaviour. He stood there with his messy hair and i first know realized that he was two heads taller than me.

"You're afraid I might hurt you."

I was going to deny it, to play it cool, to act like I was invulnerable. But suddenly I couldn't mutter the words. I just stared at him with my heart in my throat. I kept my eyes locked with his warm brown eyes and we stood there in silence for a while. I didn't think he was waiting for me to reply. It was a rhetorical question.

I was afraid. I was 16 years old and he as well - everything could go wrong. I was afraid to play the game, where everything could get lost so quickly. I did have time for boys - I just couldn't afford wasting my time on heartbreaks.

James crossed the distance between us and left only 50 cm between our faces. I could feel the heat he radiated and I could smell his boyish scent. It was weird - he smelled of dirt, grass and newly fallen rain. A perfect combination. I could watch every one of his long, black eyelashes and I could count every single of his freckles from this distance. His eyes were sparkling.

My body reacted on him being so close to me. All my cells were ecstatic.

"There's another problem of me going on this date with you." I once again didn't reply , just waited for him to tell me what other problems the two of us could cause.

"I could too easily fall for you. And I'm not used to falling for girls after just knowing them for a week" he whispered and added a little grin afterwards.

I didn't react on his words this time either. I just kept on glancing at his face. It pleased me to see that he reacted to me being this close to him as well. I could see his eyes reading my face, glancing at my eyes, my nose, my lips. And even though I didn't react on his words, my body did. My heartbeat raised even more, more than I ever knew was possible and I could feel my blood burn through my veins. My brain had shut down and I could have stood there forever - but he moved abruptly.

He pulled away from me. But he reached out for my hand, and carefully brushed the backside of it, leaving a trail of gooseflesh before taking it into his own hand. His hand felt burningly hot against mine.

"But..." he said and took a step forward and revealed that we had reached the park somehow. He then dragged me towards the wood-like area until we were surrounded by the tall, dark trees. It was only now I realised that the evening had grown completely dark. But it didn't matter - it was like James was my flashlight.

"Even though our pride and hearts is on the line..." he added, and then muttered something into the dark. And at that exact moment lanterns all around us, hanging in the trees lighted up and unveiled a complete picnic. There was a basket and lit candles placed on a red blanket, that covered a patch of grass. And there were no logical explanation to how he suddenly had lighted them up. Besides theses candles there were extra blankets. How thoughtful of him...

I was completely speechless. It was so romantic. And I actually hadn't expected that of him. I usually hated romantic gestures. That hadn't changed. But i was overwhelmed by the fact that he had done all that for me, a girl he'd just met.

I had completely forgotten that he was in the middle of saying something, until he started uttering these words:

"Will you gamble with me, little muggle?"

 **Hey everyone! I would very much like if you'd leave more reviews - i would love to hear what you think.**


	4. Okay, I guess

I turned around and met his awaiting gaze. He had this serious look on his face - and I found him trustworthy. But it wasn't without feeling a bit nauseous, I shrugged my shoulders and muttered:  
"Ehm, okay I guess…"

It was a total anti-climax. But it didn't seem as he had expected more of a dramatic scene from me, like the one he just pulled. He certainly knew how to sweep a girl of her feet huh? But as he himself had said a week before - I wasn't an ordinary girl apparently, so why should I react as one? I actually felt a bit embarrassed that he'd done all this - I could feel my cheeks burn.

"But uhm, I very much appreciate this romantic act, and it's very sweet of you, but I'm normally not into very romant…"  
He interrupted me before I could finish my sentence: "Yeah your sister told me you weren't exactly a romantic - so naturally I went the whole way. I even got this for you."

And what seemed as out of his pocket, he drew a dozen red roses bundled up with a black string. As he handed it to me he blinked and he couldn't keep a grin of his face, as he saw my reluctant face. Ugh. I hated flowers. They always died.

"Are you doing this to annoy me?" I asked, slowly becoming myself again, with a lifted eyebrow but a smile around my lips.

"No" he answered, dragging me towards this blanket he had laid down. "I'm doing this to make an impression on you."

I watched him silently, holding the flowers he' had given me, while he started unpacking sushi and some kind of weird flasks with honey-colored fluids in. His brown hair was a bit rulier, than last I'd seen him, and he wore that smug smile, that actually suited him nicely. Yeah, he sure had made an impression on me. What was it he had just asked me about anyway? I sat all puzzled, and tried to analyze every sentence he'd just said, wondering about what he might actually mean. While he was working on setting an alternative table up for us, I couldn't help but ask:  
"What exactly is it, I just agreed to?"

He lifted his head and he had this glow in his eyes. I was actually becoming a bit worried. I wasn't ready to rush into something - and he did definitely _not_ seem like the type of guy, who would do such a thing. He seemed like the type of guy, who could be dating someone much nicer, much prettier than me. And he seemed like the kind of guy who could afford to just dump her afterwards. So why did he bother going on a date with me? Suddenly I became terribly self-conscious and quite frankly - a bit nervous.

"You agreed to be my slave" he grinned while blinking at me.  
Considering my sudden mood, I couldn't manage anything besides making a face and laugh a little.

"So tell me - do you like sushi?"  
I just looked at him, and couldn't hold back a smile.  
"Yeah. But you probably knew that right?"  
He just blinked at me again, with that sparkle in his eyes that made my stomach turn. I just waited for him to explain himself, as he sat down opposite me.

"I got your sisters number from your friend - you know, the one who went out with Peter?" I just nodded, and bid him continue.  
"And I've always thought it's best to get a bit of insider information, so I come out all thoughtful and sweet" he added at last with that smirk around his lips. I snorted out a grin and rolled my eyes dramatically:  
"Typically boys" I said while "tsking".  
He smiled back at me, but it was a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He lowered his voice while he uttered the next sentence:  
"But remember - I am not a typical boy."

The silence was sultrier afterwards his words. This boy, James, was a mystery that was clear. He scrutinized my face, and I looked down at the bouquet of roses I was still holding, and still I could feel him looking at me. What was it he was trying to tell me? Because it seemed an awful lot like he was waiting for me to figure something out. But I had no clue whatever that would be, so instead of trying to actually figure it out, I grabbed the weird flask and asked what it was, it contained. That broke the weird spell-like silence that had overpowered us quite unexpected.  
"Butterbeer!" he told me, but quickly changed the subject and I good-naturedly did too.

The summer night was slightly lit up by the moon as we walked home. It had been a lovely picnic in the park - I had been laughing a lot, and even though there had been that short weird moment, I actually had been having a lot of fun.  
"No way, you ever did that!" I exclaimed disbelieving, while jokingly pushing to James shoulder as we turned around the corner to the street my house was.

His hazelnut-brown hair shone in the moonlight, when he shook his head.  
"I promise you, I did!" he laughed and turned his head towards me. "I really did, and I won, and I was really, really proud of myself."  
I couldn't keep a straight face when I outburst:  
"Who thinks it's fun to see how long you can keep your hand on the stove for? That's so crazy!"  
James just shrugged his shoulders and answered, right as we reached my front door:  
"7 year old boys. Actually Zachary hasn't ever forgiven me that I won. And my mom got so mad, you cannot believe it" he ended, with a smile.  
I rolled my eyes at him, trying to imagining a small James being scolded. It was a surprisingly easy thing to imagine.

"So what is your craziest story?" James asked, and abruptly reached out for a loose hair in front of my face. His hand only slightly grazed my cheek and then my ear, as he pulled the hair lock behind it, but it burned where his hand had touched my skin. I completely lost track of what we were talking about, and what he just asked me about, and I wasn't normally one to blush, but I could suddenly feel the blood rush to my cheek. He looked at me, saw my reaction and that smug, confident smile appeared on his face while he looked awfully proud of himself. I couldn't help but feel really embarrassed of how I had reacted, even though it only had been a graze - and I was weirdly annoyed by that self-confident smile he had on his lips, and that gloating face he wore. I would make that gloating face fade, I decided right there. So therefore I said:  
"Well there was once this boy I went out with…"

James just nodded, and as I had predicted, he stepped closer towards me, while playing with my hairlock, that had gotten loose once again. I admit, I was affected by the fact, that he stood this close to me. I could smell his weirdly attractive, fresh scent of newly fallen rain and grass and as I lifted my head towards his, I could see his brown eyes, surrounded by long eyelashes, which were so close to me, that I could count every single one of them. But I tried to keep my head cool and kept on telling my "story".  
"He was really sweet and all, but there was one thing" I muttered, as his head came even closer to me. I kept my eyes locked at the floor, and only lifted them when James started talking.

"What was it?" James murmured, while he lifted his hand and really gentle stroked my cheek, before he leaned down towards me, so his face was only inches from mine. I automatically raised my arms and placed them around his neck, and let my fingers intertwine in his hair. It all felt so… natural.

I could feel his clear breath on me and I wanted to cross that last distance between us, but I couldn't let myself become such an easy victim. As he himself had told me when we first met each other - I wasn't an ordinary girl, and I sure as hell wouldn't act as one. I locked my eyes with his, and it felt like I was being sucked into those brown irises. But it was certain that James Sirius Potter had conquered and then dumped a lot of girls. And I did _not_ want to become just another one of those. So instead of raising my lips toward his, even though it was tempting, I just grazed them lightly. I grazed them just enough for me to feel my stomach turn and enough for him, to long for more, before I turned away and lifted my mouth close to his ear and whispered:  
"He was really overconfident, and made the mistake to think he had me in the palm of his hand."

Then I released him, turned my back to him so fast my blazer lifted in the air, and walked the last few meters to my house, all while he stood still and were totally surprised. It was my turn to wear that gloating face, and that smug smirk. After a few silent seconds, where I dragged my keys out of my pocket, James moaned:  
"Well played Olive, that was really fun..!"

I just turned around, watched his annoyed and a bit sour face and blinked at him, before I returned to unlocking my door. I really enjoyed being the one in control.  
"Thank you for a lovely dinner James!" I yelled, not even bothering to turn around and face him, as I opened the door.  
"Yeah it was fun" he answered sulkingly, which led to me smiling even more. But then he added surprisingly quirky: "I'll see you next week."  
That made me turn around, with a hand on the door handle, ready to close it.

"Next week…?" I asked, unsure of what he was talking about. James, that stood a few meters from me had suddenly gotten that smug smirk back and that spark in his eyes, that made me breathe a little faster.

"Yeah" he confirmed, while lifting his eyebrow, clearly amused.

"That was what you agreed to. To date me" he explained grinning. He then blinked at me: "I'll call you."  
And then he turned around and walked away, without looking back. I watched for a few seconds how the moonlight lit up his hair and how he walked, tall and confident, before slamming the door groaning. He ended up with the control in the end. I had it for a moment, but it slipped right out of my hands. Why did I even fight it this much? I leaned against the door and slipped down it, trying hard not to think about James lips. They had been so soft, and so had his hand. As I stared into the dark house, I thought about how he had been so close to me, and how I had whished, he would have stayed that close.

I groaned once again and shook my head, trying to get him out of my mind.  
James Sirius Potter was getting in my head, and so was the thought of his lips.

 **Please review! It means a lot to me and will probably encourage me to write more :)**


	5. Clichés

**Hey guys! Please, please review - because I'm considering to stop writing this if nobody reads it :/  
**

 **Hugs 3**

"Hey Olive, I'm going to pick you up in five!" James told me through the phone, while I was walking home from the icecream-shop where I worked.  
"And what if I have plans?" I asked him, with a raised eyebrow that he couldn't see. I kept on walking while my friend Sean curiously studied my face, as I mumbled into the Iphone.

I could hear James laughing self-satisfied on the other end.

"I know you don't have plans - I've just got off the phone with your sister."

I couldn't do anything besides outburst:  
"Will you two please stop that conspiracy?" I groaned and stopped in the middle of the pavement, so Sean was forced to stop as well. He frowned and whispered almost inaudible:  
"Who is that?"

I just shook my head and told him to keep walking with a movement. Sean rolled his eyes at me but started to walk, with me only a meter behind him, holding the phone close to my ear.

"No, it's really nice to have such a head start - and besides, now I know your schedule it's easier for me to plan things like this spontaneous date."

"Is this date really that spontaneous?" I asked suspiciously, with a frown he couldn't see, but also a smile he luckily couldn't see either. It irritated me that he took a hold of my time this way without asking, but I could also feel a bit of excitement starting to evolve inside my stomach. Also it had been some time since I'd seen him.

And then I hit a wall.

Well, it wasn't a wall but it was tall and hard as concrete - Sean had suddenly stopped as I had done, only a few seconds before. Only I hadn't detected that he had stopped and therefore we ended like this; me on the ground and Sean standing annoyingly unaffected by our collision. Since my dear friend Sean was probably around 6 to 7 feet, it wasn't that weird but bothersome. I hated the fact that I was so little in comparison to him - and others.

James who had heard my crash through the phone asked apprehensive if I was okay, and weirdly enough he asked "what in the name of Merlin" just had happened. I didn't really attach it any significant importance though and calmed him down, telling him I had just collided with one of my friends, brushing it off quickly and in the moment of chaos, agreed to him for pick me up where I was now - somewhere on the road in between my house and workplace. It wasn't until he'd hung up, I realized that he was only 16 and therefore not old enough to drive. But it sounded an awful lot like he'd been driving in a car, while talking to me on the phone. Once again I shook my head at him, and waited for him to pick me up, before I would scold him.

In the meantime that I'd been sitting at the sidewalk, talking with James, Sean had just been standing still like a statue, looking at me, but he was clearly in his own head. I struck out at his legs playfully, but I made sure to actually hit him.

"What are you doing? And then you don't even try to help me, the maid you just slayed!" I snarled at him and dramatically rolled my eyes. But Sean didn't laugh at my "funny" comment; he just dropped his satchel and joined me at the concrete ground.

"Who was that?"

I was about to answer him, but then a blue Renault car came driving by and I automatically followed it's movement with my eyes, until it drove past us. Sean had kept an eagle eye on me, and of course he had noticed my reaction, when the car turned down our street. He just kept on staring at me, waiting for me to answer him. I returned his stare with as much dignity a girl, who has just fallen, could muster.

Sean was this really tall guy, with blonde hair that lately had been growing wildly, so his curls were quite long. He had blue eyes which turned darker, as soon as he got mad and he had a rather round head, with marked cheekbones. Sean was dressed in a white t-shirt, the same t-shirt as I wore - it was the t-shirt that was mandatory to wear, when you worked in the ice cream shop. Otherwise than that he wore a couple of jeans, and so did I. We matched in our clothing, but we were used to that. We were colleagues and besides that friends too. We went to the same school also but Sean was two years older than me, therefore we didn't have any classes together. Some of my girlfriends had tried to force me to date him, because of the pure fact that he was sweet and hot. And yeah, maybe he was both those things, but he was also just my friend.

Sean had started the year before in the ice cream shop, and it hadn't been more than a few days before we became close friends. We were so close that it wasn't hard for me to see, that something bothered him right now. But I had no clue what it could be. He was often very cryptic and I'd often just waited to figure out what was wrong. This time was not different.

"His name is James" I told him after some seconds of silence, and added an unimportantly shrug to hopefully minimize the damage. I knew that now I was telling Sean about James, I was never going to hear the end of it. Sean was always teasing me about how I never thought that highly of boys and dates in general. But I got the exact opposite reaction. Sean fell silent and just scrutinized my face, with eyes that slowly turned darker.  
"You like him..?"

It was a rhetorical question, I could hear that, but nonetheless a question.  
"Relax, I've only been out with him a few times" I protested and gently pushed my friend.  
After the night James had made me a picnic in the park near my house, he had taken me to the movies and to a dinner at McDonalds, the night after he arrived home from vacation with his family.

The date at the movies had been like the picnic date - we had talked a lot, while watching the romantic comedy he had bought us tickets for. Every scene in the movie had been commented on and made fun of, and in the end an elderly women had shushed us. We then decided to bail the movie. Neither of us where that interested in it anyway, so we went on a café instead, and we stayed there until I had to go join my friends and see another romantic movie in the cinema. When we had to say goodbye, James made the same trick as I had done at our last date - he kissed me on the cheek while he whispered:  
"Remember not to become overconfident..."

My cheek had burned for the rest of the evening and I was in a particularly good mood, when I finally met my friends.  
The other date had been... different...

He was jetlagged and irritated at someone, when he arrived at my place, but he had insisted on seeing me , since it had been over a week since we had seen each other, and he really tried to lift his mood. Since he hadn't made any plans for us that evening, I had decided to take him to the place, where I always treated my hangovers - McDonalds. And within a few minutes he was like himself again.

His hair had been all messy and his eyes had been curiously dark. He was dressed in black jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket. It wasn't the first time he had worn something like that, but it was the first time he looked like the part as a bad boy in that clothing. He had walked me home, as he had every other date, and been alarmingly silent.

When we said goodbye, he had just taken my hand and grazed it before turning around and leaving me, trying to figure out what could be wrong. Another week had come and gone, and we had been texting a bit but otherwise, there had been no other contact. Before now. On account of his different behavior the past week and on our last date, I had no hopes of hearing from him again, and frankly I was surprised that he had just called.  
But I wouldn't let it keep me down - I agreed to go on these dates with him, because he interested me and made me laugh. I had never expected whatever this was, to last. I had decided to just "go with the flow" and enjoy his company for as long as he and I had the energy to. But I would dump this whole thing, the minute it became complicated. I wasn't willing to hurt others, inclusive myself.  
I'd almost forgotten Sean was there until he uttered my name, to get my attention:  
"Olive" he called out.

My eyes flickered before settling on his face, which suddenly had become hard as stone.  
I muttered confused "yeah?", and then I had to look away. Sean looked at me with eyes, the darkest blue I'd ever seen. They had the same color as the ocean but still, it seemed as if they burned.  
"Tell me honestly, do you like him a lot?"

I abruptly turned a bit mad. Who was he to question me? What if I had questioned him like that every time he dated someone new? It was like putting a mask on, when I let my face become smooth, raised an eyebrow and with a polite smile asked:  
"Do you like Gloria a lot?"  
Gloria was the girl he had been dating for a month, and I had actually thought he was fond of her. But he was clearly not happy, that I'd brought her up. His eyes became smaller. Sure, Sean was cryptic sometimes but his anger now was completely unjustified. What had I done to make him so mad?

"Don't mention Gloria - I was asking you a question. And since when did you start to date?" he roared at me, and got on his feet, while some of his hair fell in front of his burning eyes.  
I was quickly to follow. I wouldn't let myself become affected by his wrath, so I tried to hold my cold and unreachable mask up, with the polite smile fading of my lips.  
"I've always been dating, Sean" I answered him, my voice cold as ice.  
"You've never been on more than one date with those guys. You really like him, I can see it on your face!" he spat out as if it was venom in his mouth.

I crossed my arms and tried really hard to keep myself from screaming at him.  
"I really don't like you right now; can you also see that on my face? Since you're so good at reading me, huh?"

His face didn't become any less tensed up, but I escaped from hearing his answer, when a red old Toyota drove up beside me.  
"Hey!" James welcomed me with warmth in his voice, but it didn't reach me. I still stared at Sean, as he turned to look at James in the car. Sean's eyes widened and he groaned:  
"Oh, you got to be kidding me!"  
A quirky greeting from James, was the last I'd expected but nevertheless he said:  
"Well hello Sean! Mind if I steal this lovely lady from ya'?"

I turned around to face James before Sean could answer, jumped in the car, slammed the door and told the confused driver to hit the speeder. I hadn't time to wonder neither why James was driving nor why the two of them knew each other. I just had to get away from one of my closest friends, who had unexpectedly turned against me.  
James did as I told him - he started to drive, and soon enough Sean and our argument was far behind us. I tried to calm myself down as we drove in silence, while James glanced at me from time to time.

"You want to talk about it?"  
I just shook my head, and turned my attention towards him as he drove.  
"I'd rather talk about why you, a tiny minor is driving?"  
James smirked at me and just waved it off with a:  
"Oh well, my Uncle Ron taught me - my grandpa actually gave me this. My mom doesn't want me to drive in it, but what she doesn't know..."

I just rolled my eyes at him, and didn't really have the energy to answer him. He might have mistaken my lacking response for concern, because he reassured me afterwards:  
"But don't worry, my grandpa made some improvements, so we can't crash."

That caught my attention.  
"How can he make such improvements?"

At that moment James looked as if he could have hit himself. That was the first time that day I really looked at him. He was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, and his hair was a lot shorter than last time I'd seen him. Now it was flowing well-behaving backwards. It didn't look bad, it looked rather good. It was just... different...  
As he was sitting in the car, which smelled of coffee and petrol, he looked quite grown-up and not that much as the playful boy I'd come to known him as. He was driving with one hand, and leaning the other arm out of the opened window beside him, while he was frowning and clearly trying to figure out what to say. It ended with him mumbling:  
"Uhm, it's something with the tires I think..."

I just nodded and kept on looking at him. He noticed and blinked at me.  
"You cut your hair."  
"Yes" he confirmed with a grin. "And I can see you've just come directly from work."  
Suddenly I became embarrassingly aware of how I looked. I didn't wear any make-up at all, not even mascara, the thing I wore on weekdays - I normally didn't wear any make-up at work and today had been no different.

But I wouldn't apologize for how I looked. He had insisted on picking me up, so he would have to deal with the consequences.  
"Yeah, I didn't have time to try to make myself decent..." I explained, and ended up excusing myself a little bit in the end.  
James just turned his eyes from the road and glanced at me, with a look that made me shiver.

"Decent? You look decent. More than decent, but you always do. It actually surprises me that you don't look that much different without make-up on. I like your natural look" he told me, while turning his concentration to the road again.

I couldn't help but frown at him, with a smile hidden behind my judgmental look. It was just so...  
"Yeah, yeah I know you think it's a cliché, but it's true!"  
He disrupted my thoughts with a hint of irritation hidden in his voice, as he guessed my exact thoughts. He was nettled about me, ruining his compliments that much was clear.  
"It _is_ such a cliché" I told him, with laughter in my voice.  
"What you don't get, my dear" he started and turned his head towards me, just as he uttered these words:  
"Is that we're the biggest cliché ever too."


	6. A magical dinner

I guess he was right. We were a cliché. The funny, popular - and annoyingly attractive - boy and the clumsy, ordinary girl.  
What I didn't know at that time, was that we were an even bigger cliché than even he knew.  
"Yeah" I sighed and leaned back in the seat. The material of it scratched my bare arm and the wind blew my hair up in the air, as I lazily stuck my head out of the open car window. James just snorted at me and I playfully shoved his shoulder. It was fully deliberately, that I let my hand linger at the sleeve of his short-sleeved shirt, before I let my hand drop. He just looked at me shortly, shook his head and grinned at me.  
I answered his smile with another smile, and turned quickly around to look out at the passing landscape. We had only been driving for a few minutes, but we'd already driven out of my city. While I lifted my hand up against the wind outside the window, I thought about the boy beside me and I wondered why we played all of these ridiculous games. I decided to be honest and forward with him from now on, but for now it was just really nice to drive in silence and enjoy each other's presence. The silence didn't last for long though. James broke it when he asked me:  
"So, where do you know Sean from?"  
I made a sour face, when he reminded me of my friend. Sean and our argument had been long forgotten otherwise, but when James brought it up, my emotions towards it welled up too.  
"Oh he's just a work friend. But sometimes he's just as hormonal as a teenage-girl, I swear…"  
"Yeah, I should know. Did you tell him you were going to see me, since he was that upset?"  
I immediately became suspicious and my eyes became smaller.  
"What have you done to poor Sean, James?"  
"I just love it, when you automatically assume the worst of me" he simpered and concentrated on turning the car to the right, before he went on to explain:  
" I dated his sister last year. Well, actually you couldn't really call it dating, it was one evening… I guess that's why he doesn't like me."  
It wasn't that much of a surprise. Neither that James had dated Sean's sister nor that Sean had become angry with him. He was admittedly protective of both his sisters.  
"His older sister or his younger sister, the one that's on boarding school?" I asked curiously, while dragging my hand from the window, where it had been laying.  
"The one that's one year younger than us."  
"That's a relieve!" I said, with a crooked smile. "I've met his older sister and she's 24. But it wouldn't wonder me if you liked cougars" I added teasingly and blinked at him, when he sent me a sarcastic frown. The blinking thing had become a thing we often did, when we teased each other. It was becoming _our_ thing.  
It didn't affect me that James talked about former girls he'd been dating. Heck, I'd been dating before him too - but as Sean kindly had reminded me, the former boys in my life had only lasted one date. I was picky. So what about James made him the one to slip through the crack? Maybe it was the fact that he made me laugh. Or maybe it was the fact, that I sometimes felt he was unreachable for me. Sometimes it was as if he lived in a different world.  
I shook my head, trying to suppress these thoughts.  
"What?"  
James had seen my movement and I just shook my head again, with a weak smile on my lips to show him it wasn't anything important.  
I'd actually become a little curious about Sean's babysister - Sean had told me that she was away on boarding school all year somewhere in Scotland and only came home for Christmas and summer. When I expressed these thoughts, James just nodded and shrugged his shoulders:  
"Yeah I know - I also go to that school."  
That did surprise me. Sure I knew James went to a boarding school also someplace in Scotland, but I hadn't put those two examples together in my head. Even though I was curious as hell to this school the two of them went to, I had captured a little detail in my head, which craved my full attention for now.  
I could feel that James stopped the car, but I had fixed my eyes on the down-going sun, that I could glimpse through the car window.  
"You know… Sean misses his sister a lot, you know, since she isn't allowed to go home for the weekends and such. He thinks that it's awful only being able to see her, when she's home because of vacation… Sometimes she's not even home for Christmas…" I uttered, not willing to look at him, while I discreetly tried to pump James for information on this boarding school that suddenly could affect me so much.  
My heart began to beat so hard against my chest, that I was sure the boy beside me could hear the thumps. What if he left home in a couple of weeks, whereupon he only visited once every half year? What if he left me here in this boring suburb wondering what could have happened, if he only hadn't left for boarding school?  
I tried to force myself not to look at him, but my eyes automatically sought his. But he weren't looking at me. He had locked his glance at the stirring wheel and his hand had clasped it.  
A feeling of sudden helplessness overpowered me. I didn't know exactly what he would say, but by his reaction to my words, I already knew that he would confirm my worst suspicion.  
"Yes… Sometimes it sucks, not being able to see people from home, for such a long time" he whispered, almost inaudible. But my senses were sharpened by the adrenalin that all of a sudden was pumping through my veins - so I had no trouble hearing, the words he'd just uttered.  
The wrath that welled up in me tasted bitterly in my mouth. I wasn't mad at James though. I had become instantly mad at myself. I unconsciously clenched my hands tightly; I could feel how my nails dug into my skin. But I liked the pain. The physical pain was nothing in comparison to the mental pain, I almost had invoked.  
How could I have been so foolish? I'd told myself over and over again, not to get to attached to this guy, I'd told myself I weren't that crazy about him anyway. But I had fooled myself. I was mere inches from really liking James - or at least I had been a couple of seconds ago.  
It was like a snail withdrawing itself into its shell. I had let my feelers out and I had been burned. To think I had thought James were different from other guys.  
I had promised myself to haul myself out of this relationship the minute it became complicated - and it just got very complicated. It would be absurd for me to continue to see James, to continue to create a bond with a boy who would just disappear. No question I wasn't an optimist. I knew long-distance relationships never lasted. And who said James even wanted a further relation with me? Why had he even started dating me, when he'd known it would only be a summer romance? Not because there was something wrong with a summer romance. It would just have been nice for me to know, so I could stop myself from getting too attached. But there was something about him, that had made him a place in my thoughts.  
That was the reason I'd never had a real boyfriend. I was too scared to get hurt. And James had almost succeeded to do so. But never again, I promised myself that in his red, rattling Toyota. Never again would I become hurt, because I was too sensitive and too naïve.  
Lights in the car-mirror dragged me back from my thoughts. James had said nothing, but apparently he had been watching me for my reaction, because when I turned my head to glance at him, brown eyes met mine.  
But I had pulled myself together at that point, so I send him a big smile that actually reached my eyes. I could feel the anger, the sadness and whatever feelings I might have felt fade away. I had managed to get control over myself now.  
Honestly I felt a little relieved afterwards. All this worrying about getting hurt, all these thoughts of me not being good enough for him had been tiring. After I had hardened a heart I probably didn't have, I could play these games we played, without the side effects of worries, annoying thoughts and insecurities. Why had I even let myself be that vulnerable in the start?  
James was completely startled by my smile.  
His eyes glowed weirdly, but after _he_ had pulled himself together, he pressed his lips together and nodded to himself.  
"Come on" I said with warmth in my voice. "You had planned something for us right? You know the spontaneous date!"  
My eyes were still fixed at him, when he nodded once again with a frown and got out of the car. I followed quickly and soon the entire car was between us - but it felt like an ocean. James had become silent and the smirk was nowhere to see, as he stood still clearly up in his own head. I decided to take matters into my own hands and therefore I slammed the car door, before going over and reaching for my date's hand. That definitely caught his attention. He stared for a minute at our hands before seeking my eyes with his. I answered his gaze and was soon drowning in those hazelnut-colored eyes that had gotten their usual mischievous sparkle back in them.  
His hand was soft beneath mine, yet it was still so compact. At first his grip on me was loose, but it changed to become firm, as he was becoming himself more and more. At last not a single cell of the silent James, that had been showing in the car, was present and James was just a quirky as he used to be:  
"Let's go!"  
Our hands were still entangled as we reached the Italian place were James had reserved us a table. It was a cute, stereotypic Italian and overcrowded place. The smell of pizza reached my nose and the sound of chatting people reached my ear as we approached the restaurant.  
After getting seated, the conversation between us went as always - flowing. It was as if nothing had happened, but we both knew that something had.  
James as the gentleman he was, bought us a pizza each and dessert as well. And while we waited for the dessert to arrive, he told me that he wanted to show me a magic trick.  
"Look at this spoon" he said and pointed at the spoon, he'd just taken from the table, and held it besides the table, near the white tablecloth. By then I had my eyes fixed at the spoon, and didn't notice he dragged something out from the satchel, he had brought from the car.  
With a raised eyebrow and a suspicious face, I watched as he blinked at me and all of a sudden, whispered something before he released the spoon. But it didn't fall as I had expected - it stayed up in the air.  
I couldn't keep an outburst in: "What the f…!"  
James shushed at me laughing, while I with wide eyes stared at the flying spoon.  
"James, what are you doing?!" I exclaimed. There had to be a giant magnet lying around somewhere for the spoon to float like this. But I couldn't see any.  
"It's just withstanding gravity."  
He blinked at me, when a waiter with a tray came towards us, and grabbed the floating spoon before the waiter would notice. There were some moments of silence when the waiter put two bowls of ice cream down before us.  
When the waiter then disappeared James sighed loudly:  
"Oh I'm going to get in so much trouble!"  
"Why?" I asked, still a little thrown-back by the whole spoon thing.  
"There's an age limit to using this magic trick" James explained with a twinkle in his eyes, and the smug smirk I'd come to adore.  
I just put my tongue out at him, because surely he had to be teasing me.

Apart from the spoon-incident, nothing in particular happened before he drove me home. We both grew silent, where we before had tried to keep the spirit up. It was clear for the both of us after the drive to the Italian place, that this flirt we had, had to end though. And better a little early, than far too late.  
James parked the car in front of my house and we sat for some seconds in silence - neither of us wanted to say goodbye. But it had to be done.  
"The patch should be pulled of quickly" I murmured and stared at my fingers that were curled up in each other. In the corner of my eyes I could see him bite his lip. Maybe he hadn't heard what I'd just said.  
"I have really been having fun with you James" I said a bit louder and turned my head towards his.  
He turned his head to face me as well, his face so smooth I couldn't read it. I lowered my glance. I didn't like not being able to know what he thought.  
"Yeah" he said at last. "It's been really great."  
Then he turned his head away to look out at the night. The silence overpowered us once again. I wanted to say a lot of things, but I was scared it would rip open the feelings I just so carefully had oppressed. I liked the emptiness I was feeling right now.  
So I just opened the car door and where about to leave when a hand grabbed my shoulder and gently turned me around. James face was so close to mine and I could feel his eyes scanning my face. But I wouldn't meet his glance. I tried real hard to not feel anything, and I would be damned if he should ruin that!  
"We'll meet again I'm sure. We'll have another chance."  
At that moment I pitied him. Of course we wouldn't - and it was alright. Maybe he only said it to try and cheer me up or he really believed it. Either way it was a pity, he thought he had to end it this way. Instead of answering him I just met his awaiting gaze, dragged my hand against his silky hair and lifted my lips up against his.  
His lips were so soft, when they met mine and as he gently pushed my lips open, I could feel his warmth coming towards me. I grabbed his hair and drew him closer towards me, while he put one of his arms around me and had the other one planted on my neck. The world behind me faded and he and his kiss where the only thing that mattered. But I couldn't let myself completely go. I would have to have some kind of control, or either I would never let him go.  
For a moment he held me close when I pulled back, but he ended up letting me go - what other choice did he have? I entangled me from him and tried to ignore the fact, that my lips craved more. I could still feel the taste of his lips on mine, and I had to force myself to not throw myself at him again. Right before I stepped out of his car for the second time, he told me he had something for me:  
"Remember me, when you look at this. Remember that we both are people that are quite unordinary."  
Then he opened the glove-compartment in his car and dragged out a small blue box with the words:  
 _Chocolate frog  
70% finest Croakoa_

If I weren't in the middle of a goodbye, I would have looked at it closer and wondered, but right now I just thanked James and stepped out of the car.  
Right before he drove away in the night, he said to me from inside the car:  
"I can't wait to see you again, little muggle!"  
Then he blinked at me with that spark in his eyes and drove off.


	7. The prospect of summer

A single snowflake landed in the palm of my hand and melted the second it touched my skin. It was the first snowflake I had seen that year. Since November the temperature had fallen but it was first on the 18th December that the first snow fell. The moment I had realized that it was snowing, I'd run out without wearing neither a jacket nor gloves or a scarf.  
The snow wasn't the only reason I'd run out that fast though. From my window on the second floor, I had noticed a dark figure standing in the shelter of a naked tree, a figure that was looking directly at the very window I sat nearby.  
I did not react on his gaze, but waited for him to reveal himself while I looked at the falling frost. The light winter-wind lifted my hair and threw around the falling snowflakes. It would be politest of me to acknowledge his presence, but it didn't know how to welcome him. The last time we had seen each other was when he dropped me off after the date at that Italian place.  
He had sent me letters twice, but without any sender-address - so I had no chance of writing him a reply. The first letter had been like getting a letter from a friend. In it there were anecdotes from the practical jokes he and his friends made in this boarding school, there were complaints of the amount of homework and at the end a simple: _Can't wait to see you again little muggle!  
_ That letter had caused nothing but frustration - he knew we were over, so why did he repeat that sentence, which had been the last he had said to me? And why did he act like we were old pals? In anger, the piece of paper had been ripped over and thrown out. What had I expected otherwise? A letter declaring his love? No, we had been nothing but a quick summer-flirt. Even though it hadn't felt like it - but we had been only that and now we were nothing. So why act like we were something as innocent as friends?  
It would be a lie to say I had forgotten him. The chocolate frog-box he had given me were safely stored away in a closet, as if I could hide away the frustration and anger I had begun to feel. Nothing but frustration filled me when he crossed my mind. I had no idea why, but I liked it better than to feel any other emotion.  
The memory of the day of our last date stood clear in my mind. I had felt empty as I had done in the car. Then Sean had called, all silent and contrite and I had explained him the situation because he was my friend. I needed someone to lean on and for that reason I had decided to forget our argument. Sean had listened and at the end asked for forgiveness for being so hot-tempered. That was how the two of us became good friends again and how I had actually told anyone about my fears of being hurt. We hadn't discussed that episode again though, much to my relief. It was in the past. Until the letters came of course.  
The first letter had arrived in October and the second had arrived only a few couple of days ago. In the second only this sentence had been written:  
 _I'm coming home to celebrate Christmas._

Then there were a couple of overdrawn sentences and a signature: _James. S. Potter._ _ **  
**_He wrote quite pretty. He wrote coherent writing in cursive. It looked really elegant. I had tried to compare it to my clumsy handwriting, and once again the frustration rose up in me. This time a different kind though. Jealousy was involved.  
James Sirius Potter. James. S. Potter. James.  
Who did he think he was, to just show up at my doorstep 4 months after going away for boarding school? The snow, that surrounded me, were falling more steadily now. I didn't feel cold - the blood that was pumping through my veins provided my body the warmth it needed. The figure I only could see in the corner of my eye, began to walk towards me. I detected the sound of his shoes against the concrete but otherwise the world was silent. It would have been more mature to turn around and meet him, but I closed my eyes instead and let the falling snowflakes wash the insecurities away from my face.  
He had said nothing, and I hadn't noticed that he had walked this close, but suddenly a gentle pull forced me to turn around and meet him.  
Snowflakes decorated his brown hair and his clothes. He wore a simple white sweater with black stripes, a pair of jeans and a black scarf. Nothing else. He seemed to be warm even though it appeared to be under freezing point.  
His hair had grown long again, and it fell down into his eyes, as it had done the first month of summer. I had kind of forgotten how he looked, but the memory of his eyes had burned into my retina.  
When I glanced at them, they looked exactly as I remembered. Hazelnut-brown, hypnotizing and warm, so warm I felt the heat affect me.  
He reached out for me and I silently slipped into his arms. It was like getting thrown a hot blanket over me, while the snow still fell above us. I buried my head into his sweater and he rested his chin on the top of my head. None of us said a word, but no words were needed. He held me tight and likewise did I.  
We only moved when lights from a couple of headlights, motivated us to move away from the middle of the road, were we stood still like a couple of statues. James dragged me towards a snow-covered bench where he placed me, before sitting down himself. Now, the spell was broken. I had to say something. So I dragged myself away from him and let the cold get in between us.  
"Why are you here James?"  
He raised an eyebrow at that question.  
"Why wouldn't I be?"  
I must have looked really surprised at that moment, because I was. I wasn't trying to hide it. I crossed my arms and dragged my feet up on the bench, trying to warm myself up now that I lacked James warmth.  
"James we agreed that we were a summer-romance. So what are you doing here at Christmas?"  
James grinned at me, and his eyes shone with mischievousness.  
"Oh come on Olive, it took me such a long time to get you to open up, so why would I let you go when you finally did? And don't tell me you forgot, that you agreed to try this out fully. "  
"I never did such a thing!" I exclaimed a bit offended that he had drawn such conclusions.  
"Oh you did" claimed James. "Our first date. You agreed to gamble on whatever this what."  
I frowned and tried to understand what James intentions were, when he smirked at me.  
"I didn't know what the agreement was!"  
Suddenly the frustration I had felt for James for the last 4 months, started welling up again and I had no need for James warmth anymore. I created my own.  
"And how can you expect for me, to just wait for you to appear whenever you want to?"  
I jumped of the bench and got on my feet, while staring angrily at James. He got on his feet as well, without a smile but wearing a confident face.  
"Look I'm home for the summer this year. And I've heard from your sister that you aren't dating anyone, and that there's no prospect of it. So won't you wait for me until the summer?"  
It was weird hearing James beg, but it also burned to hear his unintentionally diss.  
"Why do you think there's no prospect of me dating some guy, for the next 6 months? Because I'll sit at home, waiting for you to come and rescue me?" I said with clear bitterness in my voice.  
James confident face faded and he looked quite annoyed.  
"I didn't mean it that way just…"  
I cut him of quickly:  
"Yeah sure, but how come you automatically expected that from me when, we both know I'm not that kind of gi…"  
James had cut me off, just like I had done with him a couple of seconds ago - only James used another method. He crossed the distance between us so fast I didn't even notice, grabbed me and was about to kiss me - but I had the upper hand. I planted my hand on his mouth and pulled my head away from his.  
"This isn't how it's going to go buddy. We're not in some kind of romantic move."  
James blinked at me and the sparkle in his eyes grew. He smelled of James, the scent I had come to know and his touch burned on my back as it had always done. But something was different from the summer. He was miles away from me both physically and mentally now.  
I was one to know when I had lost though, and I had grown physically and emotionally tired of this conversation, and I could finally feel the cold from the snow that had begun to fall heavily.  
My anger had worn me out, but it stilled burned in the background. So I pulled out of his gripped and lifted my hand from his mouth as the last thing, before I stepped back a few meters. James picked up the conversation from before:  
"Promise me you'll wait for me till summer comes."  
It was hard for me to imagine, James _not_ being surrounded of girls, and it was hard for me to imagine him ignoring it. It was especially hard for me to imagine James waiting too come home for the summer, just so he could visit me once again.  
Therefore I only blinked at him, as we had used to do and muttered:  
"Apparently there's no prospect of me dating anyone. And if that's true, then maybe."  
I could hear James repeat to himself as I turned around:  
" _Maybe?_ "  
A smirk appeared on my lips and I left him with a simple:  
"See you in the summer James."  
Then I entered the warm house and I had managed it, without looking back at the guy I knew was watching me.


	8. Happy thoughts?

**Bear in mind that this chapter is very short (and maybe not as good, as I usually strive to write). I was feeling experimental and decided to write some of James thoughts on the"relationship".**

"See you in the summer. In the summer. See you in the summer."

The wind howled and imbued the tower. I tightened my robe around me and moved closer to the fire, which happily consumed the small pieces of parchment I fed it. Absentminded I tore another piece of the essay about "How Snake Fangs Could Be Used In Different Potions" that Professor Slughorn had handed me back this afternoon - with a sigh and a comment about my father's fantastic ability to brew potions (he did not mention the true reason behind my fathers "talent", but Dad had told me about the used book he had found, so I weren't completely crushed by not living up to Harry Potters fabulous potion-making-skills). Potions were definitely not the class I enjoyed the most. I liked Defence Against the Dark Arts the most, and that was not just because my father came sometimes and taught the classes instead of Professor Melune.

I was often told I was like my father. And more often than that, I was actually told that I reminded the most of my grandfather, the one I was named after. James Potter I.

Not by appearance no - I looked a lot like my mom in comparison to Albus, who looked an awful lot like my dad.

The fire grew as I in frustration threw the whole parchment into its awaiting jaws. The paper crumbled instantly and I watched with fascination at how it turned black and afterwards turned into ash, covering the logs that were the foundation of the bonfire. Albus, Lily and I had returned from Christmas-vacation a week ago and yet, in the late evenings when I was not surrounded by people craving my attention, a certain someone had the annoying habit of sneaking into my mind.

She probably thought that by acting the way she did when I visited her that night, that she would push me away. But she was wrong. All wrong. What she did after that night had done it though.

I clenched my hands and sunk deeper into the red-colored armchair, I had dragged in front of the fireplace. I would like to see myself as a gentleman, above such petty things as mind-games. But I had to admit that she had made the hunt fun, by turning me down in such a light-headed way. Why did she have to do something definitive as she had done New Years Eve?

She was something special. And I was something special. We matched perfectly. So what was her problem? Why did she have to act like this?

Then it hit me - maybe she knew I only would get more determined to get her, if she played hard to get and therefore she did it..?

I put a spear through that thought almost immediately. She had seemed believable angry and frustrated that night i came to her house before christmas and espacially New Years. And it would not look like her to do something that sly. So maybe, just maybe she was actually over me.

Suddenly my thoughts got interrupted by a light giggle behind me. I got quite startled as I had been the only one in the common room a few seconds ago. And the giggle puzzled me - had i said something out loud?

When I turned around and raised myself a bit, so I could look above the chairs back rest, I could see that there was no one giggling at me.

Jeyne Barnes and Casper Mottlehed from 7 year was standing in a shadowed corner of the common room, terribly entangled both still in their nightwear(or some of it, Caspers nightshirt was halfway off). I could only recognize the couple by Jeynes curly black hair, surrounding them both.

"Eww" I exclaimed while my face crumbled in disgust. "Go find an empty classroom!" I added and attracted frightened and annoyed glances from both teenagers.

"Shut up Potter" Casper sneered and dragged Jeyne with him, toward the Fat Ladys portrait.

I let out a snort and threw myself into the armchair once again. The thought of going up in bed crossed my mind, but my body suddenly felt real tired and I did not have the energy to drag myself up the stairs.

Instead my mind moved on to nicer thoughts. Thoughts about Saturdays game against Ravenclaw. I was Captain and played as chaser for the Gryffindor team. I tried hard to concentrate on thinking our strategy through, but my eyelids kept on closing. And every time I closed my eyes, blonde hair, brown eyes and red lips appeared in my head and made me ache.

"See you in the summer. In the summer. See you in the summer."

The wind howled and imbued the tower. I tightened my robe around me and moved closer to the fire, which happily consumed the small pieces of parchment I fed it. Absentminded I tore another piece of the essay about "How Snake Fangs Could Be Used In Different Potions" that Professor Slughorn had handed me back this afternoon - with a sigh and a comment about my father's fantastic ability to brew potions (he did not mention the true reason behind my fathers "talent", but Dad had told me about the used book he had found, so I weren't completely crushed by not living up to Harry Potters fabulous potion-making-skills). Potions were definitely not the class I enjoyed the most. I liked Defence Against the Dark Arts the most, and that was not just because my father came sometimes and taught the classes instead of Professor Melune.

I was often told I was like my father. And more often than that, I was actually told that I reminded the most of my grandfather, the one I was named after. James Potter I.

Not by appearance no - I looked a lot like my mom in comparison to Albus, who looked an awful lot like my dad.

The fire grew as I in frustration threw the whole parchment into its awaiting jaws. The paper crumbled instantly and I watched with fascination at how it turned black and afterwards turned into ash, covering the logs that were the foundation of the bonfire. Albus, Lily and I had returned from Christmas-vacation a week ago and yet, in the late evenings when I was not surrounded by people craving my attention, a certain someone had the annoying habit of sneaking into my mind.

She probably thought that by acting the way she did when I visited her that night, that she would push me away. But she was wrong. All wrong. What she did after that night had done it though.

I clenched my hands and sunk deeper into the red-colored armchair, I had dragged in front of the fireplace. I would like to see myself as a gentleman, above such petty things as mind-games. But I had to admit that she had made the hunt fun, by turning me down in such a light-headed way. Why did she have to do something definitive as she had done New Years Eve?

She was something special. And I was something special. We matched perfectly. So what was her problem? Why did she have to act like this?

Then it hit me - maybe she knew I only would get more determined to get her, if she played hard to get and therefore she did it..?

I put a spear through that thought almost immediately. She had seemed believable angry and frustrated that night i came to her house before christmas and espacially New Years. And it would not look like her to do something that sly. So maybe, just maybe she was actually over me.

Suddenly my thoughts got interrupted by a light giggle behind me. I got quite startled as I had been the only one in the common room a few seconds ago. And the giggle puzzled me - had i said something out loud?

When I turned around and raised myself a bit, so I could look above the chairs back rest, I could see that there was no one giggling at me.

Jeyne Barnes and Casper Mottlehed from 7 year was standing in a shadowed corner of the common room, terribly entangled both still in their nightwear(or some of it, Caspers nightshirt was halfway off). I could only recognize the couple by Jeynes curly black hair, surrounding them both.

"Eww" I exclaimed while my face crumbled in disgust. "Go find an empty classroom!" I added and attracted frightened and annoyed glances from both teenagers.

"Shut up Potter" Casper sneered and dragged Jeyne with him, toward the Fat Ladys portrait.

I let out a snort and threw myself into the armchair once again. The thought of going up in bed crossed my mind, but my body suddenly felt real tired and I did not have the energy to drag myself up the stairs.

Instead my mind moved on to nicer thoughts. Thoughts about Saturdays game against Ravenclaw. I was Captain and played as chaser for the Gryffindor team. I tried hard to concentrate on thinking our strategy through, but my eyelids kept on closing. And every time I closed my eyes, blonde hair, brown eyes and red lips appeared in my head and made me ache.


	9. Author's note

I'm just going to write this to clear something up - I know that there's not really that much magic included in this fanfiction in the start, but later on there'll be lots of magic and references to the Harry Potter universe.

The reason for the lack of these mentioned things, is because I would like for the fanfiction to be as "realistic" as possible. In the start Olive doesn't know that James is a wizard. And since we're seeing through her eyes and listening to her thoughts, she/we doesn't know anything yet.

xx


End file.
